TMNT: The Chunin
by tmntpunx
Summary: 2k14 movie verse. When Leonardo is captured by the Foot Clan he and Karai develop a mutual fascination and respect for one another. As this fascination grows into something more, Leonardo struggles with fulfilling his duties to his family and coming to terms with his feelings for the Chunin of the Foot Clan. Warnings: violence, injury and sexual situations. LeonardoxKarai.
1. Take Care

Leonardo strained to open his eyes. Wherever he was, it was dark. Maybe even underground. He took a deep breath, and musty air filled his nostrils, leaving a stale taste on his tongue as he exhaled. As his vision returned, so did the memories of the night before. He could remember the Foot on a CCTV feed on one of Donatello's computer screens. He could remember Mikey insisting on having "Riding Dirty" on repeat as they rolled out to the warehouse. The last thing he remembered was Raphael screaming as the smoke bomb went off, and the swallowing darkness that had followed.

His head ached, and his mouth was painfully dry. He reached to touch the sore spot on the back of his skull, where he assumed someone, or something, had struck him unconscious, but he couldn't move his arms. Leonardo was trussed upright, held by shackles at his wrists and ankles. The turtle strained against the bonds that held him, to no avail.

Leonardo was imprisoned in a windowless room, which was lit only by glaring work lights. The turtle strained his eyes to see in the glaring light, and realized the only door was guarded by two foot ninja.

"Shit," he muttered.

The guards glanced to the turtle. Leonardo watched their shadows flicker on the floor as they rapidly gestured to one another. Shortly after, the metal door slid open, and a lithe figure black emerged from the dark without a sound.

"Chunin," one of the guards began. "Are you sure -"

He was cut short by a swift blow to the throat. "How dare you question me in front of our most honored guest?" The unmistakably female figure snapped as her subordinate pitched forward, clutching his throat.

The guard struggled to straighten himself again as the woman turned towards Leonardo. He squinted in the glaring light, but was unable to make out her face. Before either of the Foot ninja could speak again, she raised her hand. The guards snapped forward, bowing curtly before they disappeared into the shadows and out the door.

As Leonardo squinted in the harsh, fluorescent light, his captor came into focus. The cold unnatural light, and the taut bun her hair was drawn up in, highlighted the severity of her face, casting shadows across her sharp features and defined cheekbones. Her lips were colored a deep blood red. He had seen her before, heavily armed and swathed in scarves, but tonight all she wore a black ensemble that contoured to her body,which was punctuated with minimal armor.

Why would she dress for stealth if the Foot were going to go so far out of their way to show up on the turtles' radar? Leonardo felt something sink in the pit of his stomach. They had fallen right into her trap. He had fallen right into her trap. The turtle hung his head.

"Hello, pet," the woman gloated in an acrid tone.

"Where are my brothers?" he growled. His captor grinned as she took Leonardo's chin in her hands, and lifted his heavy head to look upon his face.

"Now now, no need to be so hostile," she chided, drawing one of her nails across his cheek. As her captive grimaced, her blood red lips blossomed into a smile. "Remind me. Which one are you again?"

"I am Leonardo," he said.

"And I am Karai, Chunin of the Foot Clan." She announced. He could see the pride she took in her position. She held her chin high, looking down on him with dark brown eyes.

"So you're only second in command," Leonardo observed cooly.

The turtle watched the heat rise in Karai's face, coloring her pale cheeks as hot pink as flaring cherry blossoms. In an instant, there was a blade at his throat. She leaned in so close that Leonardo stiffened; he could feel the heat of her breath on his face. The Chunin deftly applied pressure to the blade, and Leonardo felt his own breath catch in his throat.

"I could kill you where you stand, pet." She hissed in his ear. "But Father wouldn't like that," she said, bitterly. She withdrew, giving her captive a measuring glance. Leonardo met her gaze with defiance, and she smirked. "Though, he did not specify the condition in which you were to be delivered."

Karai tossed the small blade into her left hand, and her right hand shot towards the turtle's throat. Leonardo felt a sudden pressure on his neck, and he instantly sagged in his bonds. The Chunin smirked as she nonchalantly pushed the knife into her bun.

Leonardo heaved, straining to keep his head up after Karai's pressure point attack. "Attacking a defenseless captive…"

Karai's brow raised in surprise. "Fascinating. That would have knocked an ordinary man unconscious."

"You know no honor!" Leonardo finished, unwilling to allow Karai's musing to keep him from making his point.

"Do you know what ninja means, pet?" She tilted her head and one of the red sections of hair that framed her face fell gracefully across her cheek. " The ninja is an instrument of sabotage. Infiltration. Assassination." She stated. "Ninja have no honor. We are much more efficient that way."

Karai turned away from the tressed up turtle and sauntered across the room. Leonardo's eyes lingered on her, watching the way her hips swung back and forth. She bent slightly over a table where his weapons were splayed out, and the material of her leotard tightened, revealing the way her thighs curved as she crossed one leg behind the other. Leonardo swallowed hard. He suddenly understood why Raph was always staring at April. He shook his head, abruptly ending that trail of thought.

The Foot ninja's attention was held only by the arsenal of weapons before her. She grinned, and took up one of the katana. It was clear the Foot had wasted no time in relieving him of all of his weapons, including both of his katana and a small reserve of shuriken. Leonardo's felt his chest tighten as she wrapped her fingers around the pommel of his katana and drew it from its scabbard. The blade sang as she swung it through the air in a biting arc. The turtle's eyes widened as he watched her, her eyes fixated on his weapon. She held the blade before her, rotating it with a slight jerk of her wrist so that it caught the light. The turtle summoned all of his strength, and his thick, muscled arms flexed taut as he strained against the bonds that held him.

"A beautiful blade," she whispered in admiration. "Perhaps I'll keep it."

"What do you know about the katana," Leonardo spat at her.

"You might be surprised," she said, almost playfully. She thrust the sword before her, with a swift precision that made Leonardo's eyes widen. She withdrew just as precisely, seamlessly transitioning into a series of shorter, tighter thrusts at different angles. A feeling of awe swelled up in the turtle; it was clear that his captor had had years of formal training. No common thug could execute those positions so quickly, or so cleanly.

"The hidden door…" Leonardo murmured, unable to conceal his admiration.

Karai sneered, obviously pleased by how quickly her captive had recognized her togakure-ryu technique. At this point in a training exercise, the master and the pupil would bow to each other, but instead, Karai only let Leonardo's blade drop, and proceeded to tap its edge on the toe of her steel-toed boot. The Foot ninja traced the edge of the blade with her finger tip. When she realized Leonardo was watching, her blood red lips twisted into a smile.

"You want this, don't you?" She asked, letting the blade fall across her thigh.

"Huh?" Leonardo sputtered. It took him a moment to realize she was talking about his katana.

"You want your katana. You want to cut me down," she snapped, holding his gaze with fierce eyes.

The turtle's eyes lingered on her for an instant. Karai's harbored a deep animosity, but not just for him. He could see it in her eyes. He could hear it in the way the words shot from her mouth, sharp and harsh as poison darts. But there was something more, something under the surface. Leonardo's lips pressed together. "No," he replied ruefully. "I only want to go home."

His captor frowned, but her expression had already betrayed her. For a fleeting moment, her brows knitted together in confusion, as if she could not conceive how her captive could possibly be above bearing her ill will. In one fluid motion, she flipped the blade on its side, pinched it with her long, elegant fingers and snapped the katana back into its sheath at her hip without so much as a glance. Unable to look away, Leonardo watched transfixed as her hips swung with the motion of his sword.

Karai drew closer to him, and the turtle felt his plastron tighten against his bamboo chest-plate. Her scent filled his nostrils. She was so close he could taste her. He was overwhelmed by the scent of faded floral perfume, and kohl eyeliner, and the faintest tinge of smoke - or was it gunpowder? And something else; something he had never smelled before. Leonardo couldn't quite place that last aldehydic scent, but whatever it was, it sent something surging up his spine; it left his skin tingling.

Karai traced the rim of the blue NYC button on the leather strap across Leonardo's chest with the tip of her finger. "Do you love New York, Leonardo?" She asked, her tone alarmingly conversational.

Taken aback by such a simple question, Leonardo was speechless for a moment. In an attempt to distract himself from watching how her fingers caressed his button he said, "Well, yes."

"Why?" Karai asked, craning her neck upward to look at him. Brown eyes met blue, and Leonardo realized that her intense brown eyes were ringed with gold. "How can you love something that will never love you back?" She demanded.

If Leonardo was not so tightly bound, he might have shrugged then. The question was so simple it was almost absurd. "Because it needs us," he said, in the unapologetically sincere tone that made his brothers grind their teeth and roll their eyes. "Because love is about putting the needs of others above your own."

"You are a fool," Karai snapped. She diverted her gaze, but she did not withdraw. Instead, she stayed close, drawing her thumb across the NYC button again. Leonardo swallowed a little too loudly.

He hurriedly cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Karai asked, sourly.

"For whatever happened to you that made you this way."

The ninja let out a laugh that rang out in the silence of the small room. "You think I'm some sort of victim, don't you?" A sardonic grin spread across her face. "I guess it must be hard for a boy scout like you to even conceive why someone would be bad by their own volition." Leonardo opened his mouth to speak, but Karai only continued. She leaned in close and whispered, "Maybe I like being bad."

"But you have a choice," the turtle said, simply.

The chunin looked him in the eye. "I was born to do this. It is my fate, just as much as it is yours." Her lips pressed together, as if it was all she could do to keep herself betraying her true feelings. "But sadly, fate is not the only master I am bound to serve."

Though she had worked so hard to control her expression, her words betrayed her. There was sadness there. He could hear it in her voice.

"You may have been born into ninjutsu, but you will always have a choice about what kind of ninja you want to be, Karai," Leonardo said.

She tenderly drew her hand across his cheek, allowing her fingers to brush against his lips. Leonardo felt the heat rise in his face. Her skin was so soft. Karai paused a moment, as if to consider his words before she spoke. "It is almost a pity you will have to die."

The metal door swung open abruptly, and Karai's stiffened, jerking her hand away from her captive.

"Chunin!" A faceless Foot ninja cried. "The police!"

A siren blared in the distance. Karai's wide eyes darted from Leonardo to the door, but she wasted no time in rapidly signaling to her subordinate. "Evacuate. We are too few to face the police," she said. Her tone was calm but her words were rushed.

The foot ninja's eyes lingered on Leonardo, but he said nothing.

"Leave him," the chunin said, coldly. "He will only slow us down."

The foot ninja's silence made it quite clear that they were all too familiar with the price of defiance, and even worse - failure.

Karai's brow narrowed. "I will answer to my Father for this. You have your orders. Go!"

The Foot ninja disappeared as quickly as it had come, and Karai turned to face her captive. Leonardo opened his mouth to speak, but what else was there to say? He clenched his fists, and waited what was to come. Would she kill him now that they had been compromised? All it would take was a stroke from the katana she still wore about her waist, or a precise cut from the blade she had tucked away in her bun. There were a hundred ways she could kill him, perhaps more. Karai was clever. Karai was quick. The turtle's entire body tensed in anticipation of her next move.

Instead, she only smiled at him and said, "Take care, Boy Scout. Remember - I know where you live."

Leonardo blinked and she was gone.

The turtle listened as a few Foot ninja scrambled to evacuate, but the sounds they made were few, and they faded as the shrill police siren drew closer. All Leonardo could do was wait.

A familiar voice rang out in the hall. "Don't worry, dude! It's just us!"

Leonardo called out to his brothers. Within moments, he was looking up with wide eyes as each turtle barrelled into the room. Raphael brandished his sai. Donatello adjusted his glasses. Michelangelo put his hands on his hips and declared, "What a dump."

"Where is she?" Raph growled, pushing Michelangelo aside in order to squeeze his hulking frame through the doorway.

"It's no use, Raph. Karai's gone," Leonardo swallowed.

"You ok, Leo?" Mikey asked, his exuberance somewhat subdued at the sight of his brother.

Leonardo felt his lips turn up in a slight smile. "Yeah, Mikey, I'm fine."

"Sorry for the wait; it took April longer than she expected to secure a car that we could pass off as a police vehicle," Donatello said, taking stock of Leonardo's bonds.

"Blah blah blah. Hop on it, Donny! I don't wanna keep my girl waiting," Mikey wiggled his eyebrows.

Raphael rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his plastron. He took up a guard position by the door as Donatello rifled through one of many pouches searching for his travel sized tool kit.

"It was a trap all along," Donatello said, pulling his goggles over his glasses before going to work on the shackles that held Leonardo. "This is a Sacks Industry warehouse."

With that, and a barely audible click, Leonardo was free from his bonds. He gingerly rubbed each wrist in turn. "I figured as much," he said, making his way across the room to where his confiscated weapons were splayed across the table. Leonardo gasped.

"What's wrong, Leo?" Raph asked, his usual gruff demeanor tempered with concern.

"She took my katana," Leonardo exhaled in disbelief.

"Don't worry brah, we'll get it back!" Mikey chirped, slinging his arm around his big brother's shoulder.

Donnie shrugged. "If it's any consolation, it's highly improbable that this is the last time we'll see Karai, or the Foot."

"We'll take care of it," Raph reassured him with a curt nod.

Leonardo nodded absentmindedly in answer to his brothers, but as he held his remaining katana in his hands, all he could think of were Karai's last words.

"Take care, Boy Scout."


	2. Out of Mind

Leonardo sat cross legged on the dojo floor with closed eyes, trying his damndest to find his inner calm. But he could not seem to clear his mind this morning. Red lips. The faint scent of gunpowder. Those intense brown eyes, ringed with gold. Karai. It had been weeks since she and the Foot Clan had taken him captive, but still, her last words lingered in his memory. "Take care, Boy Scout. I know where you live." The turtle exhaled loudly.

"What troubles you, my son?" asked Splinter, glancing up at his oldest son.

Leonardo rubbed his eyes before he began. "The Foot," He spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I'm afraid they're planning something."

"Do not be afraid, my son. The Foot may have fallen into shadow once again, but you are right; this does not mean their work is done. You and your brothers must be ever vigilant. And ready."

Leonardo looked to his sensei, hoping to find even the smallest comfort in his dark, wise eyes. But Splinter could not anticipate Karai's next move than any more than he could. The turtle's lips pressed together and he nodded in acknowledgement. "Hai, sensei." He paused a moment, then asked, "May I have your permission to be excused?"

The rat looked up at him and nodded sagely, "Yes, of course my son."

The turtle exhaled a sigh of relief. "Thank you, sensei," he said, dipping into a brief, short bow. As Leonardo turned to leave the dojo, he heard his master call out to him.

"But you would do well to clear your mind."

Leonardo glanced over his shoulder to reply, but his father's eyes were closed. Splinter's taloned hands were crossed over one another as he sat cross legged. Completely composed and utterly serene, Splinter had already returned to his own meditation. The turtle resolved not trouble his father with his doubts any further today.

Leonardo traipsed down the halls of the lair, winding and unwinding the tape on his hands. The pointless, repetitive task failed to provide the distraction he desired, but he continued to do so regardless. He passed the gym, where Raphael was deadlifting barbells that weighed hundreds of pounds and paused in the den, where Michelangelo sat on their pizza box couch, watching a very loud Japanese television show involving a brightly colored obstacle course and karaoke. The reception in the lair was inconsistent at best, so they never quite knew what might come through on the television.

At least this game show was less awkward than the time the subscription porn channel had come through. When Splinter had found all four turtles gathered around the television, which rarely happened without a tussle breaking out over the remote, he was quick to shut it off. Leonardo remembered how his father had awkwardly cleared his throat, and gone on about how they all had urges (which were perfectly natural), but they should be dealt with appropriately. Privately.

Leonardo's thoughts returned to Karai, and the shape of her thighs. He could still remember the way she smelled. The turtle shook his head. Karai had stolen his katana. Karai was the enemy. Karai was Foot. He trained his eyes on the television. Someone shrieked onscreen as they plummeted from the obstacle course into the water below. Yes, the reception was inconsistent at best, but if they wanted something in particular, Donatello could always torrent it for them. Leonardo strode to the entrance of Donatello's computer room, and knocked on the doorframe.

"Hey Don, got a minute?" He inquired.

Donatello swivelled around from his wall of flashing monitors. His pupils were wide from working in the dark, and too many cups of coffee. He peeled off his headphones and said, "Of course. What's up?"

"Something's been bothering me. About the ambush at the warehouse," Leonardo rubbed the back of his head and cast his gaze to the ground.

Donatello leaned forward, clutching his faded I 3 NY mug just a little too tightly. It was becoming apparent that Michelangelo wasn't the only one who had been troubled by the sight of their oldest brother trussed up and bound after being taken prisoner by the Foot. "Are you ok, Leo?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Leonardo answered hastily. "I've just been wondering - why would the Foot bring us to that warehouse if they know the location of the lair?"

Donatello took a slurp of coffee as he pondered his brother's question. "Well, why play the team on home field when you can get them on unfamiliar ground?"

Leonardo's brow ridge raised. "Did you seriously just use a sports metaphor?"

"…are you aware of how much baseball our brothers watch? I was bound to absorb at least one sports metaphor by osmosis." Donatello said flatly. "It was inevitable."

Leonardo chuckled. Donatello gingerly placed his coffee on his desk, and the dark, black liquid sloshed dangerously close to the the rim of the mug. When Leo looked up again, his brother's brow was creased in concern. Though he could not see Donatello's eyes behind the glare on his glasses, he knew what was coming. "Leo. Should we be worried?"

"I hope not," Leonardo said somberly.

Leonardo went through the motions of the day. Drills. Light lunch, lots of protein. More drills. He joined his brothers and Splinter in meditation to end the day, but only continued to struggle to clear his mind. When someone's shellphone went off mid session, he felt a deep, sweeping sense of relief. Normally he would have chided his brothers for bringing a phone to a meditation session, but today any excuse to distract himself was welcome. April was on the line; she was coming over and bringing pizza. Much to Master Splinter's chagrin, meditation was over.

His brothers were so excited about April's impending arrival that he was able slip away unnoticed. Leonardo settled into his bunk in the room he shared with his brothers, and slipped his blue bandana from his face without untying the knot that held it there. He laid on his back and stared upward, absentmindedly following the labyrinth of pipes across the ceiling with his eyes. It did not take long for his thoughts to return to Karai.

She was the enemy, but she was not the mindless thug he had once thought she was. She was something more. She was classically trained in the ninjutsu art of the Hidden Door. She was clever. And beautiful, in a caustic sort of way. He rubbed his eyes and sighed.

What is wrong with me, he lamented to himself.

Leonardo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and began to count. The counting was an introductory meditation exercise that Splinter had taught them when they were children. Count to ten without thinking about anything else. Tonight counting to ten without cheating was proving particularly difficult. He would get to three and see the shape of her lips. He would get to seven and remember the way she smelled. It took several tries, but eventually Leonardo was able to force himself to count to ten. He kept counting until he slipped into sleep.

Leonardo woke in the middle of the night. He sighed. Mikey was snoring again. But there was something else. Something - on top of him. He started to cry out, to alert his brothers, but a hand clamped down over his mouth, hard.

"Hey Boy Scout," a familiar voice crooned softly in his ear. "Promise not to make a fuss?"

As his eyes eyes adjusted to the darkness, her silhouette came into focus. She was wearing the body contoured black number with the minimal body armor; dressed for stealth. Her jet black hair up in a high ponytail. He could scream, thrash out, wake his brothers, but what if she wasn't alone? Would calling out mean their death? Or worse, capture? Leonardo was in a state of disbelief. Not just because of the intrusion, but because Donatello hadn't awoken in the bunk below him. His coffee consumption had made him a particularly light sleeper. Finally, Leonardo acquiesced with a nod, and the woman pulled her hand away from his mouth.

"What the fuck Karai," he hissed.

Even in the dark, he could see her smiling. "I told you I knew where you lived," she whispered.

The turtle glared. Karai leaned back, looking down at him in the dark. Her thighs were wrapped around his waist, and as she rocked back, Leonardo was acutely aware of the motion of her hips as they rolled over his groin. His entire body stiffened beneath her. She was strong, but he was stronger. He could have thrown her, but she would have been an even greater danger if she disappeared into the dark. It was to his advantage to keep her here, with him. At least, that's what he told himself.

"What do you want?" he growled, his voice low.

"Oh, I just thought I'd stop by to say hello," she said. "I've been having so much fun with your katana." Karai ran the back of her hand across Leonardo's bare face. The turtle grimaced, which only made her smile. She reached into some unseen pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper. Leonardo's hands were clenched in tense fists, but his fingers fell open when she touched his hand, and placed the note in his palm. "If you want it, come and get it."

The foot ninja could have dissolved into the shadows then. She could have disappeared as quickly as she had come. Instead, she took her time. Rolling forward and arching her back like a cat in a languid stretch, she positioned herself over the turtle. Her hair fell around her face, and brushed against his cheek. "See you later, Boy Scout."

And then she was gone. Leonardo laid on his back with wide eyes, his entire body tense. As his fist tightened again, he heard the note she had left behind crumple between his fingers. He thought about re-doing the counting exercise, but he knew there was no way he would be able to make it to ten again.

Leonardo woke a few hours later. While his brothers slept, he stared at the ceiling. What had happened last night? A nightmare, he reassured himself. A wet dream gone wrong. He sighed. You're losing it, Leo, he thought. He rubbed his tired eyes, and the note fell from his hand. A date and set of coordinates were scrawled across the paper in black ink.

The eldest turtle slunk into the computer room. Donatello rarely shut down his system, and Leonardo was grateful that this morning was no exception. CCTV feeds and news shows flickered silently across multiple monitors. It took Leonardo a moment, and several futile clicks of the mouse before he was able to bring up a browser and pull up a map site. He entered the coordinates.

"Hey Leo," came a voice

Leonardo promptly closed the window. He turned to see Donatello standing in the doorway, holding a mug of coffee. "Oh, hey Don. Just needed to Google something real quick."

Donatello frowned. A wisp of steam rose off the top of his cup. He gave Leonardo a measuring glance as his older brother made his way out of the computer room. "You know you can ask for help if you need it, right?"

The eldest turtle smiled and gently patted the family genius on the shell. "Of course, Don."

As the date on the note approached, Leonardo found that it was easier just to keep to himself. His brothers always seemed to approach him when he was lost in thought, staring off into the distance. He might as well have been a million miles away. Or just a few miles away from the lair, where Karai had told him to meet her. He knew just the place. How had she known he would know? He shook his head, and Mikey was there, waving a hand in front of his face. "Yo. Leo. You gonna eat that last slice?"

The only time Leonardo was able to concentrate was during drills. Splinter had seemed surprised when Leonardo requested additional weapon based exercises, given how proficient the turtles were, but his Sensei was happy to oblige. Michelangelo groaned, and Splinter assigned all of them even more reps. When Leonardo drew his katana, he thought of her. He remembered how his blade had sung when she held it, and pushed through each exercise with increased resolve.

As the days dragged on, Leonardo managed to convince himself he would just go, retrieve his katana, and come home. Nothing more. But what if it was a trap? The thought of her waiting for him with an arsenal of Foot ninja in the shadows occurred to him and he cringed. He couldn't be captured again. He had to be stronger. Faster. So he pushed harder. He did more reps. He stayed long after the drill sessions were over, alone in the dojo. The more he practiced, the more he felt the absence of his second katana. It was just as much an extension of him as Donatello's staff, or Raphael's sai, or Michelangelo's flailing nunchaku. He would go, retrieve his katana, and come home. No one had to know.

That night, Leonardo climbed into his bunk. He laid there, waiting for his brothers to fall asleep. He closed his eyes. He heard Donatello flip the switch, and the light went out behind his eyes. Raph lumbered in later, and swore under his breath as he stubbed his toe on the bedframe of his bunk. Michelangelo started to snore. Leonardo opened his eyes, and slipped from bed, careful to tread lightly.

Before he knew it, Leonardo was below Brooklyn. He stood at the entrance of the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel, where the long abandoned train tracks that ran across the ground seemed to stretch on forever in the dark. The turtle took a deep breath. There was something comforting about the solemnity of this place. Perhaps it was the darkness. When he had imagined this moment, there had been Foot ninja crawling out of every shadow, but here, now all he found was silence. He exhaled. Suddenly, a work light flared on, illuminating the dark recesses of the tunnel.

"You came," she said, her voice echoing in the vast expanse of the bore.

"I came for my katana," Leonardo stated, flatly. His eyes darted from where Karai stood to the edges of where the light shone.

"Don't worry. We are alone." She gestured to the expanse of darkness that threatened to engulf them.

The turtle approached cautiously, casting a scrutinizing glance at the Chunin of the Foot Clan. She was wearing a black tunic, with billowing kimono like sleeves. A belt was slung across her waist, and his katana hung across her hip in its sheath. His gaze drifted to her feet. She was wearing boots. With heels. He swallowed. "You…don't want to fight?"

"We could fight, if you wish. But I thought we might do something more…pleasurable." Karai grinned.

Leonardo swallowed again. This is insane, he thought, You shouldn't even be here. The turtle was suddenly aware of how quickly his heartbeat was beginning to accelerate. He had imagined this moment so many times since she had come to him that night in the dark, but now that he was here, he no idea what to do.

Since that night, the turtle had committed her silhouette to memory. He knew every curve, every contour of her body beneath her armor. Leonardo remembered. He could see her when he closed his eyes. And now, across the tunnel, he could smell her and that faint floral perfume. She was a cherry blossom with knife blades for petals. He had imagined this moment so many times, and now he could not even bring himself to answer her. So he did what he knew how to do; he drew his katana.

The Foot ninja's hand drifted to the hilt of the katana holstered at her hip. "As you wish."

The turtle charged, and Karai kicked off her boots. When he reached her she launched herself over him, executing a flip and managing to land on her feet behind him. Leonardo was stunned by her grace. That was his first mistake. Leonardo was obviously off guard, and Karai saw her opening. She lunged forward, grabbed the rim of his shell from behind and pulled, hard. His shell hit the ground with a startling crack.

She leaned over him. "Admit it, Boy Scout. I'm better at this than you are."

"Not a chance," the turtle growled, sweeping her legs out from under her.

Her arrogance had cost her; Karai hit the ground, her head barely missing the railroad tracks beneath them. Leonardo lept up, and looked down the edge of his blade at his adversary. "My katana," he ordered.

Karai raised her hands before her in submission. Leonardo nodded curtly, letting up enough to allow her to lean forward and pull his second katana from her belt. She held it in her hand for a moment before letting it clatter to the ground.

As he bent to retrieve it, Karai met his gaze. The golden ring of her brown eyes gleamed in the light. "Are you sure that's all you want?" She asked.

Leonardo wasn't sure of anything any more.


	3. Burn With You

They fought like lovers danced.

Though Leonardo would never admit that it was usually Karai who led. The two kept perfect time with one another, together in that abandoned train tunnel below Brooklyn.

He was fast, but she was faster. She was strong, but he was stronger. He was as strategic as she was clever. And during every sleepless night that left Leonardo staring at the ceiling in the dark while his brothers slept, he told himself they were equally matched.

Tonight they had forgone their weapons and faced each other in hand-to-hand combat. The work light that staved off the swallowing darkness of the tunnel sputtered as Leonardo shoved Karai up against the brick wall. He held her by each wrist, and she thrashed in his grip. Yes, she was strong, but tonight, it was his strength that had won out. He leaned in close to admonish her for being so careless, letting him pin her like that, but before he could open his mouth to speak, she shot forward, headbutting him.

Her face hit his flat nose, and he felt blood dripping down over his lips, hot and wet. Her chest heaved with each ragged breath. If she were any ordinary enemy he could have finished her then. Instead, he leaned into the crook of her neck and gave her a single kiss.

"We can't do this anymore," Leonardo said as he pulled away, wiping the blood from his face with the back of his hand.

"Can't, or won't?" Karai asked playfully between short, shallow breaths.

The turtle's brow narrowed. "I hate it when you use grammar against me." He pushed her back, but that did not stop her mouth from finding his. She was up on him again in an instant, wrapping her thighs around his waist. He held her up, his big hands clasping her hips. Leonardo was sure she could have held herself up with her core strength alone, but he welcomed the excuse to hold her.

After several weeks of kissing, Leonardo was confident he was getting better at it. He had accepted that it was something he might never excel at, given his broad face and wide mouth, but he continued to strive to be above average, at least. Karai didn't seem to object. When he kissed her, she opened up to him. When their mouths met, he could feel the tension in her muscles lessen. The stiff, rigid posture acquired from years of rigorous training gave way, and she became supple in his hands. When he kissed her, her entire body unfurled like a morning glory in the sun.

In those brief moments, he almost forgot how dangerous she was.

Every time he slunk from the lair to meet her, he told himself he went to fight for his katana, and every time he returned in the latest hours of the night, he told himself he would reclaim it - next time. Bringing his missing weapon home would necessitate an explanation he was neither willing, nor able, to offer his family. There were no secrets in the lair, save for this one. And though it weighed heavily upon him, he still returned to the abandoned Atlantic Avenue Tunnel to see her. With her, every time should have been the last time. But it never was.

Karai pulled away, slowly. Leonardo hoped she could not see how he blinked in surprise. Normally once they started to kiss, they did not stop. As a matter of fact, he had almost been caught sneaking back into the lair on more than one occasion because he couldn't stop kissing her.

The Foot ninja noticed his hesitation, and her lips curled into a semblance of a smile. "I just thought we could make things a little more interesting."

Karai drew one of her fingers down the sharp line of his carotid artery. Leonardo's breath caught in his throat. She traced the edge of his plastron, and he felt his entire body stiffen. He could tell she was relishing this; the ability to elicit a response from his entire being with the touch of just one finger. She was smiling, and she never smiled. She smirked. Or grinned. Or scowled. But she did not smile. She ran her finger down the middle of his plastron, down his torso, agonizingly slow. The turtle's breath quickened. Her hand was snaking down his body, flattening against his hard, broad abs, threatening to push under his loincloth. When he felt her hand on his belts, he pulled away.

Her fierce eyes shot upwards, and any tenderness that had been there was gone in an instant. She stood tall, examining him with eyes hard as steel. In that moment, he was more afraid of her than he had ever been. His hand drifted backward, closer to his katana. Leonardo shifted his weight. As his fingers began to clench, ready to draw the blade across his shell, she simply nodded.

"You're right. This place is…insufficient," her eyes followed the arch of the tunnel above them, and drifted into the blackness that stretched on and on beneath the city. "We should wait."

Relief crashed over Leonardo like a wave, and it took all his strength to keep his knees from buckling beneath him. The turtle took a deep breath. He could not show weakness. Not to her. Not to anyone. And yet, he still came. _I'm showing weakness just by being here_, he thought. _And she knows it_. But he had refused her, and he still stood. She had allowed him to live, despite his flagrant defiance of her desires. He did not know if anyone else could say the same.

"I should go," Leonardo said. Karai glanced up at him with those hot whiskey eyes, and the turtle cleared his throat. "So, uh, next time. Same bat time, same bat channel?"

He chuckled a little at his own joke, but he stopped when he saw her experession. Despite the fact that he towered above her in height, she still found ways to look down her nose at him.

"No." Her voice was flat. "You will wait for my signal."

Leonardo's brow ridge furrowed at what she inferred. He did not want her in the lair. It was one thing for him to put himself at risk. But he had agreed to this, not his family. He remembered how she had slinked into the room he shared with his brothers while they all slept, and it set a fire in him. The thought of her above him, arching her back as she leaned in closer only fanned those flames. He clenched his fists.

"Don't fret, Boy Scout," she said coolly. "I can leave it here."

The turtle nodded. He might be compromised by the Foot, but his family was not; and he wouldn't let that happen. Not now, not ever. The silence of the tunnel settled around them. In the stillness of the hour, the empty darkness threatened to swallow them both where they stood. When Karai reached for the katana at her waist, the turtle shifted his weight uneasily.

At the end of each tryst, she would offer the katana she had stolen back to him. She drew the scabbard from her belt, and balanced the weapon across her opened palms. The blue wrappings on its hilt were so clean. Pristine, even. She must have taken such great care to keep it so, as she often used the katana against him in their sparring sessions. Using the same weapon allowed them to continue to play their game, believing themselves equally matched.

Leonardo swallowed. He could take it, and this would be over. He did not even have to wrest it from her; she offered it willingly. It was right there, within reach, but still he could not bring himself to reclaim it. He shook his head, casting his gaze to the ground. When he glanced back up at her, she was sliding the scabbard back into her belt. His eyes lingered where his katana hung heavy at her hip. It seemed just as much an extension of her as it had once been of him.

"I should go," Leonardo repeated.

"Yes, you should."

Leonardo returned to the tunnel several days later. He lifted the work lamp to find a small piece of paper folded beneath it. Like the first note she had left him so many weeks ago, it had a date and coordinates written in black ink across the white paper. But this note had another number scratched across the bottom. He sighed. There had been a time before Karai, but it felt so far away now.

The turtle discovered that the coordinates were for a hotel. A nice hotel in Manhattan. How the hell was he supposed to make it into a nice hotel in Manhattan without being noticed? He could just see her smirking now. Leonardo frowned and crossed his arms over his plastron, tapping his fingers over his taut biceps. He could ask Donatello to find the building schematics, but that would be too obvious. He could ask Raphael to borrow his hat and trench coat, but that would be too ridiculous. No. He would have to rely on his stealth alone.

He plugged the last number on the note into the hotel's website. It was a rooftop suite. A slight smile spread across his face. She was teasing him with this task, but she had not made it impossible. Now, all there was to do was wait.

The day on the note came. Leonardo paced impatiently, waiting for sunset. He circled through the lair, until he saw his brothers all gathered together around the television in the den. Michelangelo and Raphael shared the couch while Donatello flitted around the television.

"What are you up to, Don?" Leonardo inquired.

"Oh, you know. Just trying to stabilize the signal so we can catch the news live tonight," Donatello replied, fussing with the cable box. "I could probably just stream it in the computer room, but you know how distracted Mikey gets."

"_Come on_, Donnie!" Michelangelo chimed in between sips of orange soda. "April's on in a few minutes."

"Oh?" Leonardo smiled at his youngest brother. "What's she covering?"

"Some party."

"It's a gala," Donatello corrected.

The turtle in orange blinked his bright blue eyes. "What's a gala?"

"…a fancy party," Donatello muttered.

Michelangelo chuckled. "Potayto potahto, dude."

"Is it serious journalism if she's still talkin' 'bout a party?" Raphael asked, his tone completely sincere.

"I'd say so," Donatello stated matter-of-factly. "All the city power players are there, after all. She might even get to interview the mayor." The turtle wrinkled his nose as he plugged the cable box back in. "Definitely more serious than those trampoline segments Channel Six was putting her on, at least."

Michelangelo let out a loud, dreamy sigh at the thought of April O'Neil on a trampoline. When Raphael glowered at their younger brother, Leonardo's brow furrowed. Raphael and April had been spending a lot of time together lately, and he wasn't sure how appropriate that was. The turtle in blue rubbed his eyes. _You are so beyond passing judgment on what is and is not appropriate, _he chided himself. With a sigh, Leonardo settled into the couch amongst his brothers, letting himself take comfort in this brief moment in their company.

When Splinter shuffled into the den to join them, equally eager to see April's segment, Leonardo was quick to leap off the couch so that his father could have a seat. This was it. His out. He glanced over his shoulder at his brothers, laughing and smiling and bristling with excitement for their hogosha's big moment. He could stay. He could pull up a beanbag and celebrate with the rest of his family. _There will be other stories_, he told himself. Leonardo smiled a sad smile, and with that, he was gone. His family did not even notice.

Leonardo squeezed through a small window, and tumbled to the floor of the suite bathroom. It was not one of his better landings. _But hey, any landing you can walk away from_…he told himself as he adjusted his loincloth. The turtle straightened himself, and opened the door. There were no lights on; the suite was illuminated only by an expansive floor to ceiling window that looked out over the city.

"You came," said a voice in the shadows.

Leonardo stiffened. He could smell Karai before he could see her; her faint floral scent lingered in the air. But there was something else. Something he had not smelled in some time. Gun powder.

She emerged from the darkness in a white dress. Her black hair, streaked with red, was not in the usual high bun or ponytail. Instead, she wore it down, and Leonardo was taken aback by how it softened her stark face. His eyes drifted down her face to the plunging neckline of what she wore. He gulped. When she turned away from him to face the window, he saw that the dress was backless as well.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, her voice soft.

Leonardo nodded, taking the breath of the city in as he came to stand beside her. The turtle had never seen New York like this. He had leapt over his fair share of buildings, of course, but in all of those mad dashes the city and all its boroughs had just slurred together. Here, now, the skyline seemed so still. Golden clouds, heavy with light pollution, drifted slowly through the landscape of glittering skyscrapers.

"I feel like we're holding the city in our hand…" he trailed off.

Karai smirked. "You have no idea."

Leonardo didn't like her tone, but that was just how she was. Always insinuating something. Chiding her for it now wasn't going to change that. She reached for his hand, and he allowed her to entwine her fingers around his.

"It could be like this, always," she whispered, looking out over the city.

The turtle's brow ridge raised in surprise. They didn't talk about what they were. There was no "us". There were only two katana clashing in the dark, making sparks. As much as he had wanted to talk, to tell her how he felt, her talking about them, and the future of whatever this was, made him incredibly uncomfortable. He used to be able to make decisions. Now he just avoided them.

Leonardo took a deep breath, and her scent filled him with desire. He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her close. He ran his hand up her back; his fingers lingered over her exposed skin. The turtle gently trailed one of his large fingers up the graceful delineation of her spine.

She gently placed her hands on his plastron and met his gaze. "There will be time for that later," she said, softly. "But first – I have a proposition for you. And a gift."

Karai turned away from the window and strode across the room. There was something on the table, wrapped in a shimmering golden fabric. Leonardo did not need to watch her unwrap it to know what it was. Yet when she unfolded the fabric, his eyes widened. The scabbard his father had given him was gone; his katana was in a gleaming black saya. The blue wrappings were now black.

"I had our master of arms make this for you," she said, almost shyly. "I replaced the menuki myself."

Leonardo swallowed.

"Take it," she said, thrusting the katana forward in her hands. He could hear the blade click against its new scabbard. Her words were firm, but there was something else there. Under the hard steel of her eyes and her voice, there was something else. A manic glimmer of hope. "Take it and become my Chunin."

The turtle's stomach lurched. Of all the ways he thought this might end, he had never imagined that she would ask him to join her. Of all the nightmares he had had since Karai had come into his life, this was by far the worst. "I can't" Leonardo said, trying to keep himself from shaking.

"Can't, or won't?" There was no playfulness in her voice this time. Her fingers curled tightly around the ebony scabbard that held his katana.

The turtle looked back to the window. It was foolish to take his eyes of her while she held his weapon before her, but he could not bare to look at her. Outside, the city carried on below them. It never stopped. In the distance, digital billboards lit up the night sky with neon halos, flickering from advertisement to advertisement. On the street below them cars rode up on each other with squealing brakes and blaring horns. Here, above the city, he had thought they were exempt from its chaos. But he was wrong.

Karai slipped back to his side. "The Shredder is crippled. Soon I will take my rightful place as the leader of the Foot," The light of the cityscape gleamed in her eyes, shining almost as brightly as her ambition. "And I want you by my side when it happens."

Leonardo glanced at down at Karai. Beautiful, sweet smelling Karai. She was as deadly as a pitcher plant, and he had fallen right into her. He had fallen, hard. The silence between them swelled, cresting like a brutal wave, ready to crash at any moment; ready to crush them.

"Why?" he asked.

"Who better to help me lead my soldiers than the only one who can anticipate my every movement?" She leaned in close, and drew her hand down the curve of his cheek. "You are the only one who has ever bested me, Boy Scout. In that subway tunnel. On the mountain. Below Brooklyn." Her hot whiskey eyes lingered on his face. "I would be a fool to move forward without your allegiance."

The turtle jerked away from her, his fists clenched. He had hoped - no. He no longer had the luxury of hope. He had lied to himself long enough. Leonardo's eyes hardened. "No."

"So be it."

The Chunin of the Foot Clan clicked on a hand-held radio, and the turtle's stomach plummeted. The radio crackled as it came online, filling the space between them with static. And then she spoke. "This is Karai. Who has eyes on the mayor?" Something muffled came through on the radio and the Chunin nodded. "Excellent. Fall in."

Suddenly Leonardo was gripped by a wave of nausea as the trap she had set for him unfurled before his eyes. The note. This hotel. The mayor. His eyes widened beneath his blue bandana. April was at that gala, with the mayor. And if his brothers had seen her reporting live during a Foot attack, there was no doubt that they would be there too. It was only a matter of time. He looked to Karai.

"You know what to do," she said, coldly.

"Hai, Chunin." A Foot soldier's voice crackled over the radio. "The explosives are in place."

Karai withdrew a small device from an unseen pocket. The screen flared to life with a pulsing red circle and a line of numbers that were already counting down by the second. Seemingly satisfied, she glanced up to Leonardo.

"As much as I have enjoyed your _agonizing _internal struggle over our little affair, I'm going to make things easy for you tonight," she said, simply. "Join me, or let New York City burn." There was no gravitas to her ultimatum. She issued it with such nonchalance that she might have been asking him which side he wanted with his breakfast. Join the Foot Clan, or let every upper echelon New York City politico be blown to bits. Would you like wheat, or sourdough with that?

Her head tilted to the side, and her hair brushed across her clavicle. "I can shut it off, Boy Scout," she lifted her thumb over the blaring red spot on the screen. "All you need to do is say yes."

"Karai -" Leonardo implored, reaching out to touch her. His hand gently closed around her he could say anything more, she yanked her hand away from him, and pulled a short blade from the folds of her dress.

"If you lay a hand on me again, I will cut it off," she snapped, her fingers gripping the hilt of the wakizashi so tightly they were turning white.

Leonardo tried to swallow, but his throat was so dry. He should have killed her when he had the chance; that first time they met below Brooklyn. He could have explained it all with one lie. Where he was, how he had retrieved his katana, he could have told just one lie, instead of the hundreds of lies that had followed. But he had been too weak.

"Karai, please," he pleaded. "It doesn't have to be this way."

The hilt of the wakizashi quivered slightly in her hand.

"Please." His eyes searched her face. "Shut it off." He said. "Tell your soldiers to fall back."

Her brow furrowed. "You know I can't do that, Leonardo." She held the device in one hand, and her blade in the other. The countdown continued.

They stood before one another, unwavering. Though she held the wakizashi before her, he could not bring himself to draw his katana. His gaze drifted to his second katana, now swathed in black, that laid abandoned on the table. He could take it up again. He could be whole again. Leonardo shook his head in shame. The price was too high.

"Shut if off, Karai," Leonardo repeated.

"Say yes," she said with a wicked grin.

The turtle clenched his fists. How could she tease him when there were lives on the line? All those people in the hotel. April. His brothers. If they died - the turtle stopped himself, unwilling to spend another instant indulging Karai.

"SHUT IT OFF KARAI!" he screamed.

She shifted her weight uneasily. In that moment, the briefest twitch of her brow betrayed just how unsettled she was. She was frightened. The Chunin of the Foot, who had executed countless terrorist attacks and led troops reeling down snow covered mountains only to emerge unscathed was afraid. Of him. Leonardo grimaced. She was seeing him for what he really was tonight; a behemoth that could crush the life out of her with his bare hands.

"I don't want to hurt you," his voice trembled. His broad shoulders heaved with each breath.

Karai cocked her head to the side, quick to regain her composure, and her confidence. "As if you could."

She still wanted to play. But this wasn't a midnight sparring session below Brooklyn; they were miles above the streets of Manhattan tonight, and lives were at stake. This was no longer a game. Leonardo leapt forward, launching himself at her. He pinned her to the bed effortlessly. The turtle wrapped his hands around her wrists and squeezed, hard. The Foot ninja released her grip, dropping the device on the covers of the bed.

The turtle snatched it up and slammed a giant green finger down on the screen. After the countdown halted, he closed his hand around the device, crushing it. But that wasn't enough. Leonardo threw whatever was left of the detonator at the wall, and Karai flinched beneath him as it hit the floor. He wrapped free hand around her other wrist again, leaning into her with all his weight.

"That's the difference between you and me, Karai," Leonardo growled.

Karai spat in his face, effectively cutting him off. "How dare you act so fucking high and mighty!" she snapped. "You are no less willing to sacrifice yourself than I am."

The turtle's breath caught in his throat.

Karai grinned. "That's right, Leonardo. We are one and the same - "

Leonardo slapped her across the face to silence her. Stunned, she lay beneath him with wide eyes. His own eyes widened in horror as he realized what he had done. He had overtaken her countless times during their sparring sessions. He had bruised her, made her bleed; but he had only done so in order to subdue her. He had never intended to hurt her. He had just wanted her to stop talking. There was blood on her lips. _What have I done?_

In his moment of hesitation, the Foot ninja's free hand shot up. Gripping the edge of his plastron, Karai pulled the turtle down on top of her, hard. Her lips were on his, hungry and wet with her own blood. The metallic taste filled Leonardo's mouth, and he pushed up against her, rolling his hips over hers.

His hand was on her face, gingerly caressing where he had struck here. _I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. _He feverishly thought the words he could not say, kissing her harder. It was all he could do to keep himself from crying. _What have I done? _Her tongue snaked around his, drawing him in deeper. _What am I doing._

Leonardo felt her hand on his. Her deft fingers wrapped around his, and she gently pulled his hand away from her face, guiding it down her neck, her chest, her thigh. He felt his cock twitch under his loincloth. He pushed her dress up over her hips with his trembling hands.

And then, the door crashed in, flooding the room with light. Her body, wild and ecstatic beneath him was instantly still. A hulking shadow stretched towards them from the doorway.

"Leonardo?" a deep voice at the door shook in disbelief.

Leonardo felt the blood drain from his face. "Raph –" he began, looking to his brother and away from her.

Karai saw her opening and took it. She kicked him in the plastron with such force it knocked the wind out of him. In a flash, she reaching for the short blade that had fallen to the wayside when he pinned her to the bed. His eyes jerked back to her, but it was too late.

The Chunin thrust her wakizashi forward, but the turtle reflexively shot back; the blade missed his throat by only a few inches. Leonardo reeled backwards, and a deep, red line bloomed along his clavicle. He could hear his brother screaming his name, barrelling towards them both across the room. But even as he fell backward in shock, his eyes were on her. She looked up at him with those burning eyes, her lips drawn in a line across her stark face. There was blood on her white dress.

"Good bye, Boy Scout," she said.

"Karai, please - " Leonardo pleaded, the room spinning around him. Something hot and wet was dripping down his chest. He tried to speak.

But she was already gone.


	4. Epilogue (Lovers Love, and Lovers Leave)

Leonardo sputtered into consciousness as his brother screamed in his face.

"LEONARDO!"

The eldest turtle blinked, forcing his eyes open. His vision was hazy; he knew it was Raphael above him, but all he could see was a smear of red and gnashing teeth. "How long have I been out?" he groaned.

"Not long, but you're losing a lot of blood," said the turtle in red, his eyes darting to the door he had kicked down only a few moments earlier. "We should go. Can you walk?"

Leonardo tried to nod, but his head flopped forward and he did not have the strength to bring it back.

"I'll take that as a no," his brother said gruffly.

He felt his body being hoisted up by Raphael, who slung him over his shoulder like it was nothing. His brother took a few steps, before halting abruptly. Leonardo's feet were dragging across the floor, through a sea of broken glass. The turtle in blue blinked.

"Glass…?" he murmured in confusion.

"Yeah, that crazy bitch jumped out the window," his brother said, shifting his weight in as he pulled Leonardo up further, away from the glass that littered the carpet.

Leonardo's eyes widened and he lurched forward, wresting himself from his brother's grip. He fell to the floor and struggled to straighten himself. By the time he was able to prop himself up on his arms, the carpet beneath him was turning red.

"Leo! What the hell are you doing?"

Leonardo dragged himself forward, refusing to succumb to how lightheaded he felt. The turtle teetered over the edge of the broken window, which had once stretched from floor to ceiling. As his eyes darted down the face of the building, he felt a wave of nausea come over him. Karai was gone. He drew a sputtering breath. The city was spinning below him.

He felt his brother's hand on his shoulder, yanking him back from the jagged maw of the broken window. d

"Is April alright?" Leonardo gasped, suddenly cognizant of what had transpired before his brother had arrived. The bomb. The gala. Karai. The shameful moment they had shared after he had subdued her.

Raphael glared at his disheveled older brother. "Yeah, no thanks to you," he spat. "Mikey stayed behind to help her while Donnie worked that damn bomb."

The eldest turtle tried to stop himself from shaking, but his body would no longer obey him. "We need to find her. Karai," he stammered deliriously. "I'll take the roof. You keep eyes out the window."

"I don't think so, Leo," Raphael said, his voice alarmingly calm.

"Raph –"

"Don't act like you're in any place to be givin' orders," the turtle in red growled.

The familiar buzz of a shellphone on vibrate cut through the tension between them. Raphael answered it eagerly. "April? Oh thank god," he exhaled in relief. "No, I didn't see your earlier calls." He nodded emphatically. Then his voice became quiet. "I know. I was scared too," he said, turning away from his brother. "Yeah, I found him." The turtle in red paused. "No. Everything is not ok."

Raphael kept talking, but Leonardo could no longer hear what he was saying. He could barely keep his eyes turtle in red hung up the phone and looked back at his brother. The enormous turtle bent and scooped Leonardo in his arms. He squirmed frantically, his eyes darting around the room, though he could no longer see. "My katana!" he protested.

"Fuck your katana, Leo." He heard Raphael say, bitterly. "And fuck you too."

Karai stood in the doorway in her ruined white dress. The room before her was lit only with candles, which sputtered slightly as something moved in the darkness. The Shredder was there, waiting for her.

"Did he believe you?"

"Yes, Master." She bowed her head.

The Shredder nodded, and then he rose. His towering shadow engulfed her, and darkness spread over her white dress. He made his way across the room with only a few long strides. When he passed her in the doorway Karai bowed deeply, though it pained her. She had escaped the wrath of that beast of a turtle, but it had not been without consequence. She only hoped that her father could not see how her face twisted in agony.

"Chunin."

She looked up to her father. His face was swathed in shadow.

"Your retention rates are slipping. If you keep losing this many soldiers on your missions, you will be reporting to Sacks once again when that fool gets out of jail." The Shredder said. And then he asked a question that wasn't a question at all. "Are we clear."

Karai bowed her head once more. "Yes, Master."

When he was gone, the Chunin shut the door behind her. She was able to force herself to take a few steps forward before she crumpled into a heap on the floor. The candles that lit the room flickered as she listened, waiting for the sound of his footsteps to fade.

It was only when she knew she was alone that she let herself succumb to sobbing.

Leonardo awoke to the sound of his own screams. A sharp, pointed pain shot through his shoulder. His eyes opened wide. He was home, in the lair. Splinter stood above him, stitching up the gash above his plastron. The needle went through his skin again, and he grimaced in pain. He closed his eyes. He waited.

When Splinter was done, Leonardo tried to open his eyes again. "Father," he began.

But Splinter only shook his head. He took a cotton ball, soaked with some disinfecting agent from the first aid kit, and he gently dabbed at the place where he had sewn his son back together. With that, Splinter turned from his son and left the room. The lights dimmed. Leonardo was alone.

The turtle laid there on his back, staring at the ceiling. Something hot and wet ran down his face. Blood? No. He was home, safe. He took a shaking breath, and slowly forced his good arm up so he could wipe it from his face. Yes, he was home safe. But he still wept.


End file.
